Valiant infant in fight for life

Survival amazes parents, medical staff

Navy corpsman Demetre Chin-Young and his wife, Christine, share a moment with their daughter Madison. He is facing deployment to Afghanistan in late 2010 and his trying to secure a visa for his jamacian grandmother so she can help care for Madison.
— Sean M. Haffey / Union-Tribune

Navy corpsman Demetre Chin-Young and his wife, Christine, share a moment with their daughter Madison. He is facing deployment to Afghanistan in late 2010 and his trying to secure a visa for his jamacian grandmother so she can help care for Madison.
— Sean M. Haffey / Union-Tribune

To help the Chin-Young family, or other military families in Southern California who are in need of assistance, e-mail: Socal@operationho.... Please include Madison Chin-Young's name in the subject line.

Madison was born three months premature in April. She struggles against cystic fibrosis, has endured six major surgeries and faces a cascade of medical issues — including intestinal problems, lung disease and a defective heart — that have bewildered Navy corpsman Demetre Chin-Young and his wife, Christine, and tested the staff at the San Diego Naval Medical Center.

Her survival has astounded her caretakers and given her parents a newfound sense of hope and gratitude.

“She’s just amazing. I can’t put it into words,” said Cmdr. Lynelle Boamah, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the hospital who has supervised Madison’s case since she was born. “For all intents and purposes, she’s a miracle.”

In the new year, Madison will need all the fight in her to continue beating the odds.

Some of the medications keeping her alive also are slowly destroying her liver. She almost certainly will need an intestinal transplant and possibly a liver transplant, Boamah said.

Madison’s mother remains resolute.

“Every setback, she just bounces right back,” said Christine Chin-Young, 37.

Military health insurance has covered virtually all of Madison’s medical costs, but her almost constant need for care has forced her mother to quit working as a day-care specialist.

The Chin-Youngs have three other children, ages 8 to 18. They get by on the corpsman’s salary and assistance from Operation Homefront, a charity that helps military families. The group donated new baby clothes, toys and furniture, and it arranged a pre-Christmas shopping spree at Walmart.

“We have to cut back on everything else we would normally do,” said Demetre Chin-Young, 26. “We’re still blessed. We have a roof over our heads and food on the table.”

He started dating Christine three years ago while both were college students in Maryland. She was enrolled in a pre-nursing program, and he was taking classes in accounting.

After earning an associate degree, he couldn’t obtain a loan to continue his schooling at the University of Maryland.

“I decided the next step was to go into the military,” Demetre Chin-Young said.

He enlisted in 2007, and the couple married in March 2008 — right before he deployed to the Middle East with the Camp Pendleton-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. His wife became pregnant soon after he returned that fall.

During her 19th week of pregnancy, Christine Chin-Young underwent an amniocentesis, a routine genetic screening. The procedure revealed that both parents carry the gene for cystic fibrosis, a chronic lung and gastrointestinal disease.

Immediately after the amniocentesis, Christine Chin-Young started going into labor. Doctors administered drugs to delay the birth and confined her to bed rest. Madison was born April 12 — Easter Sunday.